Sharing the healing powers of truth-telling
Theatre
Telling the truth about what happened to Aboriginal people is something acclaimed writer and director Leah Purcell is dedicated to doing in her latest work
If there’s anyone in Australian theatre who knows how to tell hard truths with heart and humour, it’s Leah Purcell.
The indigenous Queensland writer and director first claimed that space about 25 years ago with her knockout autobiographical one-woman show Box the Pony. That account of her journey from challenging adolescence in Murgon to leading multi-disciplinary artist was a hit with audiences and critics alike.
Now she is returning to her home state and QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre with a world premiere, sharing the story of another inspiring First Nations woman. Based on Dr Ruth Hegerty’s award-winning memoir about being one of the stolen generations, Is That You, Ruthie? opens December 2 and it was written and directed by Purcell.
Setting the bar so high early on with Box the Pony could have been daunting but Purcell, 53, thrives on the pressure to keep producing the goods.
“That’s just the way I want it to be,” she says. “Pressure makes diamonds. In every production, I am trying to outdo that bar and I expect everyone who works with me to take on that challenge and climb the mountain to the top and be successful.”
While this time she’s leaving the acting to others, it’s just as well Purcell isn’t fazed easily, as she’ll have the titular 94-year-old author sitting in the audience on opening night.
After receiving the David Unaipon Award at the 1998 Queensland Literary Awards, Hegerty penned her mother’s story in Buthalangi: A Maranoa Woman. Purcell has drawn on her work to explore the painful legacy of forced separation when Hegerty was just five years old.
In this two-hander, Melodie Reynolds will play Ruthie (Munya) and Chenoa Deemal, Ruby (Buthalangi), in addition to multiple other roles, just as Purcell did in Box the Pony.
This time Purcell is enjoying passing on what she’s learned over her 35-year career, “bringing people with me so I can give something back”.
When Purcell talks of Aunty Ruthie, it’s more than a First Nations’ term of respect because the nonagenarian is actually Purcell’s tribal elder. This production had its genesis a quarter of a century ago when both women were first making their mark publicly by sharing their experiences.
“Aunt, I’m going to do something with it one day,” Purcell pledged after reading Is That You, Ruthie? Still, it was the shock of Hegerty phoning last year reminding her it was the book’s 25th anniversary that jolted Purcell into action.
“It’s a beautiful way to celebrate the anniversary and to fulfil my promise to her that I’d love to put it on the stage,” Purcell reflects. “Aunty Ruthie is living history. She’s still here for anyone who wants to challenge her.”
Apart from both being resilient and passionate storytellers, the two women’s family history overlapped at the Cherbourg mission in the 1930s-1950s under the governing legislation. However, while Purcell’s grandmother lived with family members, Hegerty was placed within the harsh dormitory system and was unaware she had family living close by.
“Aunty Ruthie said we had no freedom and no access to family. We were prisoners,” Purcell recounts. “When she was a child, she was told she would not amount to anything. ‘There will be no plans and there will be no dreams’ – people said that to her. So, she just defied those odds.”
On top of achieving her personal goals, Hegerty has been instrumental in helping countless others in her community live better lives, and Purcell attributes her elder’s preternatural longevity to a passion for life and a view that “every day is a gift”.
QPAC embraced presenting the production as a truth-telling opportunity under its Reconciliation Action Plan.
“It’s so important that everyone knows, warts and all, what happened in this country,” Purcell says. “Those women didn’t have a voice.”
The work’s objective, she emphasises, is healing and she says she doesn’t want non-Indigenous audiences to think, “Am I going to get blamed for everything?”
Get InReview in your inbox – free each Saturday. Local arts and culture – covered.
Thanks for signing up to the InReview newsletter.
“It’s not about that,” she says. “It’s about sharing the story. Everyone can relate to it, no matter who you are. It’s about a mother and daughter’s journey back to one another. We ask our audience to come with us. With Box the Pony there were many laughs, no one felt isolated, everyone was welcome. And that’s exactly what we’re doing on this story.”
While Purcell acknowledges consciously working toward her audience feeling safe, feeling comfortable is another matter. Is That You, Ruthie? will be delivered in non-linear verse form across 100 minutes without an interval, without pulling punches.
“I never want to make you comfortable because then you go to sleep.”
Is That You, Ruthie? Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, December 2-16
qpac.com.au
Support local arts journalism
Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.
Donate Here
